For the past few years, coming up with a Halloween costume was easy. I would just walk down to Studio Kaiju and become one of their many strange monsters. However, since the studio relocated to NYC, I was on my own this year. Well, I decided to go as Hefty Smurf.
This was pretty simple in theory. Wear my white capoeira pants, find a white floppy hat, and cover myself in blue make-up.
Well, it took the wife and I an hour and a half to cover me in blue. The little red heart tattoo, which is what distinguishes Hefty from the all other smurfs, was painted on with acrylic paint, and outlined in black sharpie. As you can see in the above picture, certain lighting conditions make me look too dark and not so smurfy. Also, it was hard to get an even coat, and we eventually just settled for this spotty look. There was too much white in the kitchen, which made it hard to see the pants and hat. We moved into the living room to get a couple more before heading out.
To be honest, I am not actually all that into Halloween. The only reason I ever dress up is to participate in my capoeira group’s annual Halloween Roda.
The Kaiju suits I wore in years past were fun, but the limited vision and mobility always made playing difficult. This year, being that my entire costume was just make-up and a hat, I figured it would be easy. Well, the problem was that the make-up came off extremely easy. Whenever anyone would brush against me in passing, I would see a blue stripe on their shoulder as they walked away. I was so afraid of accidentally smurfing everyone, I could barely move. I had to wear these green lab gloves just so I could touch the floor. People enjoyed the costume, though, so in the end it was all worth it. I didn’t get first place in the costume contest like I did last year, but at least I had the satisfaction of actually making my own.
